Flat panel displays have grown tremendously in popularity over the past decade. The price of such units have reached a point where they are used in a variety of applications in several industries. Flat panel displays use technologies such as Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or ionized gas (plasma) to generate a picture on a screen. Because these technologies require very little space to generate a picture, the resultant sets are considered flat panels, at least in comparison to Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors, which were the dominant visual display technology until earlier this decade. As the price of flat panel displays continue to decrease, they will be used in even more industries and applications.
Flat panel displays have significant advantages over CRT monitors. The most important of these are size and weight. CRT monitors are bulky, cumbersome and heavy. This makes using CRTs difficult in various situations. An example of such a situation would be a sonographic or other medical monitor for a patient brought into an emergency room on a gurney. Since the patient is being moved, a monitor (or other medical condition display) would have to move with the patient. To use a CRT monitor as a medical monitor, a specialized mount would be required to hold the heavy monitor in place. Such a mount would have to be sturdy and well built to hold the weight of the monitor. This in turn means that the doctors or nurses pushing the gurney would have to transport the weight of the monitor as well as the weight of the support. Additionally, when the patient needs to be switched to another bed, the CRT monitor would have to be relocated and/or repositioned. The use of flat panel displays greatly reduces the difficulties described in the above situation. Since the flat panel display is smaller, lighter and less cumbersome, it is easier to move than a CRT monitor. Also, the relatively small size of a flat panel monitor is less likely to get in the way of a doctor or nurse trying to administer aid to the patient.
Mounting solutions are critical to maximizing the benefit of flat panel medical displays. While a flat panel display is lighter and smaller than a comparable CRT of similar screen size, the benefits of a flat panel display are enhanced by an appropriate mounting system. Flat panel displays may simply use a stand on top of a table or similar support, however, often times it is more desirable to have the display mounted on a wall, ceiling, or hanging from another piece of furniture. By doing so, a greater amount of area is conserved. Additionally, the walls or ceiling may provide a better viewing angle or sight line than a tabletop, depending on the location and use of the display. Recognizing the importance of mounting solutions, several companies engineered different mounting solutions for various types of flat panel displays. These solutions allow flat panels to be mounted in various positions and at various angles. Some mounting solutions allow a viewer to change the angle of the display or to rotate the display to suit their viewing desires. The most common solutions allow a user to fit a mounting bracket of some kind onto the wall or ceiling. The flat panel display is then attached to the mounting bracket using screws, bolts or similar hardware.
Current mounting solutions utilize the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) Mounting Interface Standard (MIS) otherwise known as a VESA mount. The original VESA mount consisted of four screws arranged in a square, with the horizontal and vertical distance between the screw centers being 100 millimeter (mm). This configuration is still used for a variety of flat panel monitors. Additionally, a smaller VESA configuration, measuring 75 mm between each screw hole in a square pattern, is used for smaller displays.
Present mounting solutions, however, are inadequate in situations which require versatility in the face of constant change. Stands used to support flat panel displays only support the display in an upright position and do not allow the display to be angled for enhanced viewing by a doctor or a nurse.
Situations such as the one described above, require a mounting solution which can be easily and quickly changed to fit the needs of the moment. For example, if the nurse or doctor needs to be viewing a display constantly, it should be in a location easily viewable. However, if the doctor or nurse is working actively on the patient, and thus requires the monitor to be out of the way, but still connected to the patient, the device must be easily moved out of the way. Current mounting solutions require removing or changing the type of mounting hardware attached to the monitor to meet these needs.
Mounting solutions which require hardware changes are undesirable in situations requiring quick changes. For example, in the medical instance described above, one possible solution would be to use a stand for the flat panel display while the flat panel display is being moved, and to use a wall mount to keep the flat panel out of the way but still viewable by the doctors or nurses when the patient is stationary. However, such a solution requires physically changing the hardware attached to the flat panel display. Physically changing the hardware on a flat panel display while the display is being used is undesirable because the doctors or nurses may not be able to make the physical changes, or may not have the time to do so, or may not have the parts handy. Additionally, it may require tools not available at the moment.